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"Hooked"
787 Plays1 month ago
We're back, sorry for the radio silence, in the meantime Hoff has been crafting somethin up Colney that just might turn out to be quite special. Hannah joins Tom & Jon to chat Hull and our revised season predictions...
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:21
Speaker
Welcome to the Long Come Norwich podcast, a sparse sporadic speakeasy spinning around the specifically spurious speculations of Norwich City spectators. I'm still Tom, he's still Pump, so thank goodness Hannah's with us to inject some sense into proceedings.
Hannah's Renewed Enthusiasm
00:00:36
Speaker
Hannah, half ball is officially a tangible thing. I can describe it, I can feel it. How are you feeling? Nine games into the new regime. I'm i'm having a lovely time.
00:00:47
Speaker
Super. I think a lot of us are. I've definitely, I've sort of mentioned, and I think, to ah to John when you've messaged me about coming on the podcast last season and ah that I just sort of wasn't, I don't know, I wasn't really feeling it. I wasn't really feeling Norwich. I wasn't really feeling being a fan of Norwich. I think that's okay to say, isn't it? I think that's okay to admit. Totally. It kind of happens in the life cycle of bands that you have seasons and and moments that you're not as connected um as you are in others, especially when, you know, I live, I don't even know it anymore and I don't get to go to Coward as much as I would like.
Disconnection from the Club
00:01:30
Speaker
And so I sort of have to, I feel like you have to work a bit harder, you know, when distance is a thing. And and I just was, I was struggling to find things to get me um hooked and to get me invested in the way that I,
00:01:44
Speaker
have been and sometimes in previous seasons um and it's all high moments and it's not because you know it's not just a results thing like I'm not and you know I'm not quite not that shallow. i don't I don't mind if we lose. That's okay. um ah I'll still be a fan. and But it's it was just the performances and the sort of um in incoherence around the club and the messaging and some of the comments that some people at the club were saying and all of that. It was just losing me a bit. And and I feel like um'm I'm being reeled back
Hofball's Positive Impact
00:02:24
Speaker
in. I found myself watching and
00:02:26
Speaker
You know, the video that they put on, ah the club put on Twitter recently that was like a pronunciation guide for the all the players. I found myself watching that at work with the sound off. So I didn't even hear anything they were saying. And I was like, watch visually imbibing it I'm watching all three minutes of this. and They've got me. They've got me like I'm back. and So yeah, I'm having an absolutely lovely time. and That was a bit of a digression from the actual football, obviously the actual football.
00:02:54
Speaker
um is ah a big reason and a big catal catalyst for why I feel that way. And and yeah, it was it was great fun. I loved it. um It's hard to kind of ah pick out, well, it's not hard to pick out any single player, and because obviously science has been absolutely on fire recently, and he is definitely making these a lot more fun. um But yeah, the whole team, the whole off ball,
00:03:23
Speaker
of philosophy is ah coming to life for our very eyes, isn't it? Yeah, it's very good fun.
Fan Engagement & Off-Pitch Connections
00:03:29
Speaker
I don't think that straying off football ah with regards to being reeled back in is off topic at all, because a lot of the things we were complaining about um in in terms of the general malaise that ah had affected us, we we talked last season about You know, ah I sort of could maybe get to the game, but I'd have to do a little bit of logistical sorting around and I, you know, I'm not motivated to do it. So I'll just miss one was was happening more and more. And I think a lot of it was just as much to do with the off the pitch lack of connection as it was actually the product being pretty crap once you actually got on the grass as well.
New Manager's Influence
00:04:07
Speaker
I would say you punt, are you ready to declare off ball a roaring success and the best managerial appointment this season so far?
00:04:16
Speaker
I mean, I was ready on the day he was appointed, purely because I'm i'm an absolute sucker for a left field manager we've barely heard of, wants to promote youth, you know, all of those things, tick, tick, tick. um But He's actually really massively backed it up. I mean, let's get this into context. And I don't want to draw comparisons to, to previous managers, especially the two prior to, to Johannes Hof Torrup. But we look straight away, you know, we look incredibly well coached. Like, all right, let's just put Oxford to one side, that side.
Improvement in Team Tactics
00:04:52
Speaker
We look like we've got a plan. We look like
00:04:55
Speaker
you know the the trigger movements that the players were making were were all well-instructed you know on the pitches at Colney, the triangles in in which we played, the quicker way in which we'd try and play out from the back, and it wouldn't actually just be you know kind of keeping the ball for keeping the ball's sake.
00:05:13
Speaker
just It just seems like, you know, Hannah used the word coherence, and I think that's that's absolutely um where we're at now, is that the club led by Torrup and Glen Riddesheim feels like it it just has that plan now. it It feels like we're all moving in the right direction. We're all moving in the same direction.
00:05:34
Speaker
And there's so many characters that are really easy to fall in love with. You know, if you look around the team and, you know, players that they've brought in in terms of maybe Jose Cordoba, um you know, Kellan Fischer, I know that he, you know, this isn't a play that was purchased recently, but actually, you know, he's really come to the fore.
00:05:53
Speaker
And the tour has been magnificent. Marcelino Nunez, you know the the kind of re-emergence of him as as a what it was an attacking force on Saturday, wasn't he? He was absolutely everywhere. you know His dynamism has really made a massive difference to the way in which Norwich play. But then you know you've got you know you've got someone like Glenn Riddecombe, who's the character of the man. He just seems a bit zany, a bit bonkers. is All of those kinds of things.
00:06:20
Speaker
just, you know, I don't know, just feed into you like a really nice feeling about the club. And then actually, the club is almost pushing on an open door when it comes to messaging and communication and, and you know, and it is doing things better. I think now, you know, kind of that that is
Aggressive Playing Style under Torup
00:06:36
Speaker
undeniable. um And i I think the club isn't very good when they're a kind of in defensive mode, um you know, from a public perception point of view, but when things are going well that they really are able to lean into that and and do ah a really good job. So Torup's the catalyst. I think we need to give massive, massive props to to Ben Nappa for recognizing that this looks like a real talent in terms of a coach. And the noises that people are making is that you know the only concern that Ben Nappa had about him prior to his introduction was that actually we might not be able to keep hold of Johannes off Torup for as long as maybe we'd want to, which
00:07:11
Speaker
is a massive compliment for for the man. But yeah, I think it for me it comes back to everything that David Wagner didn't seem to be. you know Wagner was almost, let's get a group of lads together and almost cajole them and you know have a lovely time and and then scabby one nil and it was all, you know put the shutters up um and that was fine.
00:07:33
Speaker
This isn't that. This is front foot football. You know, if we go one nil, two nil up, we're we're still going to go for the jugular, but it's, it's all considered. And there is a level of pragmatism to it as well. You know, it's, it's not, you you know, it's not swashbuckling. it's It's really well executed. I think that that's the best way I can put it.
Strategic Gameplay Implementation
00:07:56
Speaker
Yeah. The the the idea of a plan is something that is,
00:07:59
Speaker
and I think football fans are very quick to moan about. It doesn't seem to be a coherent plan. They don't know what they're doing up Colney. But it's almost reassured that you were right to complain about the lack of a plan when you then watch a Thorop team because you think, oh no, yeah, we we were right. Because when there is a very clear clear plan and there is a very clear cohesive, repetitive ah pattern of play. You think, no, that's happened far too many times for it to be a coincidence that the other team have just happened to give us the space to play in a certain way. Clearly this is what they're setting out to do. I thought it was interesting that Duffy, who you wouldn't necessarily associate with,
00:08:39
Speaker
and maybe tactical wizardry or or technical prowess. um In his art post-match comments um at the weekend, he was talking about how hard they'd been working on the training pitch to get the manager's ideas across. And I thought that wasn't that was unprompted. the The question to him was around, this this is a nice place to play at the moment, or you know the confidence must be high, or or something like that. you know fairly Fairly generic question.
00:09:03
Speaker
And he went to the manager, working them hard and and and working on and getting his ideas across in the way that he wants us to play. And I thought that was really interesting that that he kind of volunteered. That was the first thing that came to his mind. I can't imagine there was a great deal of thought that went went in ah before he decided what to say.
00:09:20
Speaker
But he is probably a prime example of of and he his um he the heart in mouth moments are still there. They were
Player Contributions & Performances
00:09:31
Speaker
there on Saturday. He gave the ball away two or three times and he's still clearly the the weakest of our and defensive unit for for playing the ball out but the the amount of work that the players around him are doing to make sure he has got a ball out um available to him is fantastic and you you hit the nail on the head with regards to and but when you're talking about Nunez being more maybe more attacking
00:09:58
Speaker
i It hasn't occurred to me until you were talking about him being a bit further up the pitch and and and helping with the initial press ah and and being an option to kind of run beyond the strikers so often. I can't remember in the last you know five or six games any time point where I've thought we don't feel balanced. You're right, it's not swashbuckling at all.
00:10:18
Speaker
with Stacey occasionally you feel like we over commit and he does ah he's the one player that we that did you know when he was having his run in the team there did seem to be kind of regular occasions in which oh no we've we've lost the ball on the edge of the box and now we're in trouble that that didn't happen I don't think that happened once on Saturday and yes it was a dominant performance against Hull but we there is The balance is there, the pragmatism is there, um and that is's that it's it's the repetitive nature of um the the mix. I would describe Hofball as ah passing with intent and sucking the other team ah on onto you to prevent and to prevent you being able to pass through them, which then opens up that ball over the top to science and that ball over around the corner to Sargent and that ball over the top to Nunez.
00:11:09
Speaker
And it worked time and time and again. And so far, including needs, no one has tactically managed since you know in the last four or five games, no manager at half time has managed to adapt and change things to prevent that working. I will pass you to death until there's an opportunity. And as soon as you you try and jump in too quickly,
00:11:29
Speaker
or press us too high, that we've got such pace to hit you on to hit you with a ball over the top, that that that we're going to create chances that way. and Hannah, you obviously and referred to science and and as the the goal scoring, and and then Punt was talking about you know characters to fall in love with. Who are the early stars of the show are other other than science?
Defensive Strength & Cordoba's Role
00:11:50
Speaker
You're obviously grabbing the headlines, being joint top scorer in the championship.
00:11:53
Speaker
what What are the other other players that that you maybe you weren't expecting to be as enamored with as you're now a massive fan of? Oh, well, you spent a couple in the end there because I was about to just be really obvious and and say and and give some props to a couple of defenders as ah a former defender myself, because that's those's always the place that I yeah yeah like to watch in a couple. So um it's not really unexpected, but well, I suppose, I mean, Kevin Fisher, we've already mentioned him. He's definitely one I think that very few fans would have picked out as a player who was going to
00:12:28
Speaker
um, become so quickly, um, a really high performing, um, you know, play a week in, a week out for the past couple of weeks. I think, wasn't he a man of the match at the weekend? Even though he was, yeah, yeah even even though signs was obviously brilliant and sergeant was brilliant and our forwards are amazing. But, um, yeah, the fact that he he is still earning those products, I think, um, even in displays like that shows, shows how well he's doing.
00:12:54
Speaker
um and he's so young and he has such a sort of different you know background and he didn't come through like a big a academy or anything like that ah and so yeah I think I definitely I mean he yeah I know he's had a lot of he's had a lot of praise but I just like to add to it um he was I'm not sure if there's anyone that unexpected. That's an interesting one. I do really like again, sorry, these are just all defenders. I do really like Cordoba. I like his vibe. I know he's given us a few slightly hairy moments and he still doesn't look sort of totally settled all the time. But he just seems, he seems really likeable again. Like I really liked her and there was a tweet in Orange Fowl and it was pictures of
00:13:40
Speaker
ah all the scorers on Sassoon, like he's just in the background and all of them just like fully, fully changing on and like giving them cuddles and you know, and that's cute. Like you need that, you need that sort of character. So yeah, I like, I like all of those guys.
00:13:53
Speaker
I think this' ah the the of the new guys, he's the one that and seems to, yeah, to your point, from a celebration point of view, he seems integrated to me yeah and and seems to be, I would i would say he does seem settled personally. and i I don't have my heart in my mouth when he's got the ball at his feet as much as as Duffy occasionally. and And what I love with with him in particular is the unnecessary shove at the end of a kind of defensive action. So, you know, he'll be shepherd in a ball out or he'll be and running, he's got some pace, he'll be running kind of side by side with their attacker on ah on a ball that they've kind of half-heartedly put over the top, which Gunn is going to claim easily. And then but as soon as it's clear that actually, no, that that's kind of finished.
00:14:43
Speaker
the gun's going to collect the ball or the ball's going to run out of play and that and their striker starts to slow down, then comes a shoulder barge completely unnecessarily. and There's a little bit of business at the end. and I love him.
Midfield Performance & Technical Boost
00:14:55
Speaker
What about you, Punt, who are your early stars that we've not mentioned already?
00:14:59
Speaker
um Well, we have mentioned Marcelino, but I think, I think really what I'm more most impressed with under Tourop is the fact that we have a fully functioning midfield very, very quickly. And I think that's one of the hardest things to get right in football. And that look, you know, that hasn't always been the same players. Oscar Schwartel's dipped in and out. Liam Gibbs has been part of it as well. um But, you know, Nunez and McLean have been really, really on it. And I think, actually, with Slimane coming in on Saturday, and you know he had that brilliant performance, I think it was maybe, was it, um second half at KOV, where he played and and looked really good. I think having Slimane and Nunez on the pitch at the same time gives Norwich the ability to have two technicians who are really, really comfortable having the ball
00:15:52
Speaker
in tight spaces and are able to progress the ball from those tight spaces and they they're instructed to be brave with it. And that's the kind of football that I want to see. like I don't mind if Nunez's pass completion is significantly, and I have no idea what it is by the way, but if it's significantly inferior to Shane Duffy's or you know Kenny's or you know whoever it might be, that's because he is trying the difficult passes. That's because he's trying to break lines. That's because he's trying to get Norwich up the pitch. And it feels really intentional. It feels like that that's what Torrett wants them to do.
Rising Stars & Tactical Innovations
00:16:25
Speaker
and you know how many times did salamani do exactly the same thing um on saturday so i think those two have been stand out i definitely had had not picked him up i would have picked up on kellen fisher because i just think,
00:16:38
Speaker
I mean, look, how likable is that lad as well? You know, I mean, he's got the body of, I think someone said it on Twitter, he's got the body of an 11 year old, you know, and the composure of, a you know, a 28 year old. I mean, it's just ridiculous. But the bravery to put that tackle in and to get it right, you know, kind of when I think it was Jean Pedro was was probably going to poke in for Hull, which would have only been a consolation goal. But the fact that he was so pumped up and I think, you know, kind of there was fist bumps and all sorts afterwards.
00:17:06
Speaker
He just it comes across as such a level-headed, likeable young man, but actually him and Doyle have allowed Torup to play the football that that he wants to play in terms of the inverted fullbacks as well. So it it just comes back to that plan, doesn't it? But but yeah, there's loads there's loads of people too to love. and And I think that's almost, you know, when Josh Sargent hasn't been part of the conversation,
00:17:31
Speaker
that that's mad to me because he was he was the only one really maybe like him roe and science last season were the only ones that you could really get excited about but having said that sarge has been brilliant i mean he's had a really good start to the season he looks fitter than ever he looks strong than ever he looks like he's sort of got a bit more heft to him he's knocking center backs left right and center he looks really really pacey he seems he doesn't look as clinical though to me and i think that's the thing that the massive confidence issue i think more than anything and hopefully I don't know though, I don't know the goal on Saturday was a really...
Sargent's Performance & Goal Opportunities
00:18:05
Speaker
I mean, they would say that was a clinical finish, like getting in and nipping in in front of the defender and the goalkeeper to stab it home. For me, the movement's brilliant, but that's on a plate. And then he goes and misses a penalty. I don't know. And then he misses a couple of other chances. Yeah, but the ball rolled punt. The ball literally rolled before he kicked it. Oh, I see. Yeah, someone else said that. I haven't seen that. So yeah, maybe there is some mitigation. It moved half a foot. Yeah, it moved half a No, it was at least half a rotation. foot. Like that's enough. Would it have been like a retake if we had video assistant referees?
00:18:37
Speaker
I don't know what the rules are on if the ball rolls. I think if it's a moving ball, it's probably a re-take. Then 100%. Anyway, so fair enough mitigation, but I guess my point is, I don't think he's looked as sharp in front of the goal as our season. The fact that we can accommodate Sargent not looking as sharp in front of the goal, which I don't agree with, but even if that was factually accurate, the fact that we can be in seventh position and play in some great football,
00:19:00
Speaker
But he he has had fewer chances. I mean, he isn't our only hope of scoring a goal. You know, yeah he's not our only hope of getting a tap in. You know, you've got ah other players, to you know, like Again, thinking about a system, Mark Ondez, the new guy who came on for for whatever it was, last 11, 12 minutes on um on Saturday, ah he found himself with the ball at his feet with the opportunity to score because everyone went, okay, well, you might not be Sarge, but we know how to move the ball around the box and roll it across with you to have an opportunity. you know And so that's that's kind of testament to to that system. I remember that Bournemouth game when ah
00:19:39
Speaker
when Farkas Norridge looked like Farkas Norridge, even though he changed nine of the first 11, we still played like you know Farkas Norridge. I still remember how much we were that was the you know how much that struck us that without maybe we we hadn't quite given the credit for just how much of a system and just how much of a style of play he'd created. And and I remember that it was that point where we really started to talk about it.
Squad Depth & Competition
00:20:01
Speaker
and to to me, I think that the fact that there's been really quite a lot of rotations, you know, you you think of the likes of Forsen, who we thought was was going to have to be the guy in midfield, and he now can't get in the team. um From a starting point of view, the fact that Stacy's now got genuine competition, we've got in in Doyle,
00:20:21
Speaker
already looks like a phenomenal piece of business from a, I mean, maybe not exactly a a left field one, because he's just won the league and in, you know, and and so therefore, if someone who has just helped a team win the league, played loads of games is available, you know it doesn't take a ah sporting a sporting director genius to say, well, if I can get him, I'll get him. But even so, the fact that he he seems to be hungry and I love how I love the passion that he plays with. We were there. ah Me and my boy were at Coventry and we were kind of running the clock down.
00:20:57
Speaker
um doing kind of the ah doing the slightly um unpleasant stuff like we'd we'd been quite comfortable earlier in the half but towards the end of the second half we were holding on a bit because it was a championship and we were we were we were defending a one-goal lead and we sat a little bit too deep which he complained about after the after the game um but you know when when he was shepherding balls out for um goal kicks and and and clearances it was proper turning around giving it some to the away fans you know giving it the fist pumps because that boy loves defending in a way that you you don't often see in someone that age. So and there's there is so, so, so much to like. And it's very, very difficult not to think that this is the start of something significantly exciting, especially when you look at who we've played already and who we've got to play coming up.
Future Fixtures & Expectations
00:21:44
Speaker
So I i took ah took a glance, as I always do,
00:21:47
Speaker
and at the upcoming fixtures, nine of the next 11 are against teams who are currently in the bottom 11. We've played nine games and all but two of them have been against yeah the top 10. And then then we also played 11th.
00:22:04
Speaker
ah Obviously, form will come and go and yeah know Portsmouth are second from the bottom or whatever and they drew the lead at the start of the season, so form is not permanent. But And so some of them will will turn it around a little bit. But all you can do is beat the teams in front of you. And all we've got as a barometer of success so far and is how well our teams are playing. The other teams that have started really well have struggled to beat us. And that home form, Hannah, in particular, I know you mentioned you're not able to get to Carrot as often. and But that home form is going to really, really be key. that The fact that we're unbeaten in such a long time there, ah just the vibe of watching Norwich now in person is fantastic.
00:22:44
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. And I think it's fine to start to get a bit excited. and You know, as I said, like I've had probably at least a season and a half of not not being less excited, not really getting carried away. and That is the whole point, isn't it? Like, if you can't get a bit excited, if you can't get a bit carried away, and if you you can't kind of dream about the way this season is going to turn out, then then what is the point? I think it's absolutely fine to do that. um Especially based on what we've already seen, because um What we are seeing is a team that is getting better. We're seeing, and like you say, a kind of a style and a philosophy that is becoming clearer and more defined with every single game. and The speed with which that is happening is it's pretty pretty impressive. And and it's not going to be infinite. No, you can't just get better and better and better and better until we're, you know,
00:23:34
Speaker
champions Champions League level or something. That's that's not how it works. But um I do think we we haven't reached a we definitely haven't reached a ceiling. you know This is still a work in progress. It'd be interesting to see if after this international break there's a kind of another another leap again, because obviously you'll have a bit of time to to work with them. I mean, a lot of players are obviously off playing for their country, so not ah probably not the squad that he would like to be able to work with. but um Yeah. So I think, yeah, let's, let's get excited. Let's get carried away. there but ah and There's a couple of players who, who haven't kind of hit the ground running yet. And you wonder how much that will be because of, you know, not getting full preseason or not, not being fully fit yet. And seeing that is one who you were talking about it after the game on Saturday, a ability is clearly there.
00:24:30
Speaker
clearly fast, clearly strong. and you know He still seems to have some confidence to dribble and he keeps trying things that you think that must have come up if you come off for you in the past, that step over or you wouldn't be trying it in a competitive game now.
00:24:44
Speaker
But he seems to, you you talk about Sargent not seeming sharp, which again, I don't
Scoring Opportunities & Player Growth
00:24:48
Speaker
agree with. He, he definitely fluffs his lines and wants an extra touch when he's in the penalty area. The good news is like, again, on Saturday, um, he is getting chances, like he is getting opportunities every game.
00:25:01
Speaker
So we are finding ways of engineering him with the ball on the corner of the the box time and time again. Um, and it just seems to be that a defender just gets back in time and gets a block on it. That seems to be what happens with most of his shots, which suggests that he's trying to take an extra touch and not putting the trigger as fast as he could do. But I don't know if you agree with me, pun, I feel like he's one of those that I've already seen enough that if one were to go off, you know, the, the, ah the old adage go off his ass or his elbow or whatever, you feel like he,
00:25:28
Speaker
If he could just get one, I feel like there's a player there. like I can see what why they've signed him. Or or do you think i'm I'm projecting too much good faith on him? No, no, no, no. I'm i'm fully with you. And I'm i'm probably more pro anti Cernach than you were kind of leaning into there as well. I i think actually over the last couple of games,
00:25:49
Speaker
he's really started to come to the fore. I think that his running is really purposeful. I actually think it's for Cernach, the issue is sometimes going the other way. So he's played balls back into midfield or back to the defence and actually it's been a complete wayward pass or you know that pass just hasn't been on and it's been intercepted but by the opposition. I think you know there are two areas for improvement, one in front of goal, as you said, and then and then actually, yes, you know looking at when to retain the ball, but actually in terms of being a different option as a winger, and I think, you know, Toura referenced this, being an out ball in the air and he is quite big and strong and athletic is really useful to Norwich to have that, you know, kind of um on one of the sides because science is never going to be that.
00:26:34
Speaker
um But no, I think he showed some some really nice touches. It's nice to have a left footer coming in from the right and you know with the ability to shoot. If we look at his highlight reel before we signed him, you know there were lots of goals from from distance. It does feel like he he needs one. And it does feel like he needed almost exactly the goal that Gordon scored at the weekend, which was you know a bit of a scuff and just ended up in the corner and you know brilliant for the lad, 20 years old and you know on his birthday. But Cernach needed that more than anyone.
00:27:03
Speaker
And I think the issue, and you know it's not his fault, it' it's the price tag. And some people, if if he doesn't start to to rapidly progress, might have a look at him and go, well, look, he was eight and a half million quid. um you know and And that's not eight and a half million pounds worth of winger slash striker at the moment. I think for me, he looks like one of those ones that the club have done there.
00:27:26
Speaker
due diligence about and they feel like his ceiling is a lot, lot higher than where it is now. And at 20 years old and coming from, and you know, one of the more obscure leagues around Europe. that's completely legitimate, isn't it? But it's maybe the Mario Vrancic effect that he's going to take six to nine months to get used to the physicality, to get used to the pace of the league, to get used to his teammates, you know, because he's he's not, you know, 20 years old. He's a footballer that that probably isn't pre-programmed to, you know, plug and play in in different footballing styles. and And he might not have had anything like turret ball before.
00:28:00
Speaker
So I think for him, we do have a real player on our hands and it is just, in he needs that goal, as you say. Yeah, I love his his attitude, though. and yeah He's also being played out of position. So he you know he he played through the middle, right? So he he is... a He see said he's played drive everywhere. So he's played... He's 20. He can't, you know... Well, that was his club interview. That was his club interview. lot I've played all across the attacking midfield line. Yeah, because he was told to. He was told to. Same same as Forshaw was told that I'm a defensive... Finally, we've so signed a defensive infielder when we when we um and we signed him. like
00:28:36
Speaker
yeah hes he's He is ah he he was playing as nine when he was playing his previous and position, his previous previous club. And that's those goals that you saw him banging in. He doesn't look like a nine to me, though. I don't know if a but about you, but i i I agree in England or traditionally old fashioned England sort of ah physicality, he's almost rangier. Like, I feel like he's got more about him to to be able to play out wide and then sort a sort of slope inside. he he's He's got, ah he's he's quite poetic in his movement and i and he he is he's quite fast for how tall he is as well, which is why I think if we can get him as confident in front of goal as science, he who can blame him, at the moment, science thinks he's going to score, like the the goal that Nunez scored on Saturday, which was a belter,
00:29:25
Speaker
and science is looking for opportunity to shoot
Team Cohesion & Development
00:29:28
Speaker
there. And he's 100%. Oh, 100%. And he's almost, you get on the replay, you can almost sort of see his shoulders sort of sag as he goes, oh, I have to lay off then. Okay, fine. That is always his intention, regardless of his confidence levels. And I love that. And I love, but I love that. I just think he accurately has got the perception. I can actually score from anywhere and it happens. And I've done it here. I've done it on this club, for this club and on this ground.
00:29:55
Speaker
I love it. And I love Marcelino kissing a badge. And I mean, I'm hopelessly head over heels in love with this team. like it and And it's only taken nine games. I was not a tub thumping for Thorpe. And there's a pun in there somewhere probably when we, you know, when we made the announcement, because Obscure, left field, unproven, that's not my vibe necessarily. and I do agree that it's way more fun when that then works out in the same way as ah if in the same way that ah Doyle being an absolute blinder
00:30:33
Speaker
And ending up being a player of the season candidate is probably less fun than, you know, one of the, you know, if, if it was to be forced and that developed into an absolute diamond or whatever, because when you do ah pluck someone that no one else has heard of and they become brilliant with you, that there is always an added element of, of fun with that. And that was one of the reasons we liked Daniel so much, but, um, I do, I, I.
00:30:57
Speaker
was so, so ready to be patient for the project. And I was so ready to be patient for the style to develop. And Oxford was so bad and that it was sort of like, yeah, no, this is going to take time. Of course it's going to take time. It's completely unreasonable. Got to give him to Christmas until this is going to start to look like his team. And and now we're we're strolling up to Carrow Road on Saturday with my boy, watching us play totally dominant football. I mean completely dominant football. We were in charge of when we played fast. We were in charge of when we played slow. There was the period in the second half, like there will be in every championship game when the other team has a bit of a go because they're actually professional footballers and they're quite good at it. Otherwise they wouldn't be playing championship professional football. And yeah, we rode our luck a little bit with a couple of Duffy mistakes and yeah, maybe the goal that was ruled out shouldn't have been a goal. Sorry, it shouldn't have been ruled out because it probably was his sort of shoulder or whatever.
00:31:55
Speaker
Genuinely, we absolutely dominated them. and Can I add to that as well? Torup is not satisfied i love it with the levels. I mean, I am completely in love with the fact that every game... ah and for he not good now you yeah that was That was pretty good, but, you know, loads to work on. And you're like, I mean, you know, if you're one of the players and you you know you reference Duffy, you know, kind of saying about how hard they're working,
00:32:18
Speaker
this really you know kind of demonstrates you know what what type of ah coach he is and and how progressive he is. And again, you know I've heard noises about Torup already about the fact that he does seem like he's a really good human and he's really into characteristics of players, not just you know kind of metrics and data and all of those kinds of things. So it just gives me even more confidence that he's building something beautiful. Yeah, I think we're building towards a really special season. and and yeah we had We've had injuries so far, um but you know not the catastrophic science sergeant style one. and Have you, Hannah, or Punt, because i I haven't, has there been any talk about how long Gunn is going to be injured for, if it was just a knock that they were being careful with him for?
Goalkeeper Gunn's Injury Speculation
00:33:07
Speaker
or or if he's actually pulled something, I didn't. It was a rib injury, wasn't it? like but wait by know It was in Nations League, because don't you have to turn up and then the then the national team assess you if it's a competitive fixture. I think that's how it works. So he must have had to chip up and then they've gone, oh, all right.
00:33:22
Speaker
but I mean, ah yeah you'll be a maze pun. I've never been in this situation. i don't i but ive I've never rocked up to a nations league game. Are you joking me? No, I know. I thought you had some obscure, you know, hyation relative, you know, and that you you know you'd you'd managed to get an international debut. Funnily enough, i overweight, goppy central midfielders didn't seem to be what was looked for during the golden generation when I was playing. That's good enough for Gazza.
00:33:45
Speaker
No, not often am I footballing wise compared to him in the same breath. And I've seen you play, yes. So, Hannah, i want ah we're too far away from ah the next game, ah which is Stoke, which we'll win, um so I can guarantee that anyway. ah But now we've had a bit of a sample size, I would like a revised prediction for how this season's going to finish for Norwich, because We've seen a third of the opposition we're going to be coming up against, and we've seen enough now of Norwich to have a bit of a feel of what Hofball's like.
Season Predictions & Playoff Anticipation
00:34:21
Speaker
Where are we going to finish this season? I reckon... I still think... um I mean, I didn't... I'm not sure I ever voiced any sort of prediction at the start of the season before all of this anyway, so and I can just pretend that I thought this all along. And I think...
00:34:43
Speaker
i think I think playoffs, I think playoffs is where I would go. um I still think finishing top two in the championship is a really tricky thing. ah It's not the sort of season, um like last season where there were just kind of one or two absolute standout teams that are just rolling everyone else over and you know walking it. I don't feel like that that's gonna be the case and this season, but I do you just wonder if it might, I feel like that's,
00:35:09
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I don't think that might still be a strategy far, even though I've literally just said that we should all get carried away and excited. So really, I should be saying, yeah, we're winning the lot. But I reckon playoffs. And then and i like a good a good playoff campaign, like playoff final, ah you know i'm not goingnna I'm not going to say we're going to win it and because now I'm getting superstitious. And so I don't want to speak anything into existence or anything bad into existence. um But yeah, good a good playoff campaign, that would be fun.
00:35:39
Speaker
Um, get to Wembley, you know, ah that's, that would be, that'd be pretty dreamy, I think. Same question to you, punterlicious. Oh, I mean, Hannah's talk of getting carried away got me carried away and, and then, you know, she kind of just brought me down a little bit. Um.
00:35:56
Speaker
Look, I think the real test of this side is when managers have had a proper look at what Norwich are doing and they're able to, or, you know, there is someone within the championship that is able to come up with a formula to combat the way in which we play. And then it's how we go again off the back of that. But I do think that we've got the game intelligence. I do think that Torup seems to be really really proactive in in his changes that he makes, and they always seem to have an impact. And actually, ah the first time I looked at the bench on Saturday and I thought, yeah, we've got some really decent change-up options, whereas before it looked a little bit like, oh, right, hang on, are we really bringing on Liam Gibbs to change the game? um And that's no slight on Liam Gibbs. It's just, he doesn't strike me as is a game changer, shall we say.
00:36:45
Speaker
So no, it does feel like there's a little bit more depth. That's probably because, you know, players have stepped up. Um, it does feel like to me that Torup, Torup has made Shane Duffy and Onel look like credible, decent players. And I think that is because they've, they've been given jobs to do and they know exactly what they need to do and how they need to do it.
00:37:10
Speaker
I just think that level of coaching gets you quite a long way. um I think if we can ride ride out the you know people figuring Norwich out and then go again, I could see us getting runners up. you know I really could. I think Leeds will win the league. I think Leeds have just got too much, but I really, really feel like There's no one else that I look at and I think they're, they're totally stand out and you know, they' they're going to, they're going to run away with it
League Analysis & Norwich's Prospects
00:37:37
Speaker
with leads. I think it it might be us. It might just be us. And that would be an incredible achievement. I'm saying that, but next time we pod, it probably would have all gone to shit, but you know, it's nice. to I, I, um, I don't think, I don't think leads have got the, unless they make some signings in January.
00:38:00
Speaker
just how some of their games have gone already this season. I don't think that game intelligence is there. I don't think they've got proven finishers. They can't see things out. And they do, you know, the old adage of them mucking things up again. I don't know. So we're champions then according to you. They will be there or thereabouts because they've got good players as long as they don't get really unlucky with injuries.
00:38:29
Speaker
and you know it You know, it takes the goalie to throw one in for them to to throw, to to throw points away occasionally. oh That was so good though, wasn't it? Oh, it was hilarious. I mean, it was just, I, I mean, yeah, it was just like just so funny. It's just so funny. and You quite like Leeds, but you know, I mean, well i've got I love the city and I've got a soft spot for the team because I know so many fans having lived there for such a long time. And and i I do, I do tend to lean towards
00:39:00
Speaker
the teams that do have a bit of history, and as opposed to yeah your Brentford's and your Luton's, and who just have got no place in the Premier League. But... Hang on, Luton, just before the Premier League was created, Luton were a top flight team. Yeah, for five minutes. No, they were in it Division 1 for quite a while. Anyway... Let's have a look. set like Luton, how many seasons top flights?
00:39:31
Speaker
go. Mark Steen, Bryan Steen. and They won the League Cup in 1987-88. They did. Huge. I think it was Mark Steen who scored. Or was it Bryan Steen? One of the Steen brothers? I don't know. ah So, 1960 for... Yeah, that they're sort of, you know, they look actually 70s and 80s. They're sort of a bit norridgy.
00:39:58
Speaker
They've been going there. Yeah, they are a bit orgy with the rubbish ground. Yeah, up, down, up, down, up, down, 70s and 80s. David Pleat was first made manager in 1978. He had a long old tenure, didn't he?
00:40:11
Speaker
Anyway, year i was born we're going down, no, that was 1778. We went down a bit of a looting hole there, sorry. Anyway, the but anyway, i i do i I do tend to think, I do tend to root for the larger larger historically successful teams.
00:40:29
Speaker
um prior to times when it was just purely bought um against smaller little shit tim pot teams who just very transparently have bought any success so yeah but hang on brentford or luton i mean brentford maybe a little bit but brentford no not luton brentford a lot li no look brent brentford brentford built in the right way for a fairly long time do your research money pure money oh there's money there but there's yeah you know there's money money everywhere yeah Apart from at Norwich, there was money everywhere for a while. with Not such a sudden inflection. Anyway, let's not get too distracted by Brent for being shit. The key thing here is that I can't see ah past Norwich being a real force and being a real force for and the whole season.
00:41:20
Speaker
and unless unless we unless one of those main two, science or sergeant, have more than three, four games missing through injury. Because ah the the rest of the team, and and I maybe throw Doyle in there as well, the rest of the team, I think there's enough of a, I've already seen in through the first couple of months of the season, enough of rotation, enough of a way of playing that if Forsen had to do a job for a while,
00:41:49
Speaker
If Gibbs, once he comes back, comes back in the team and, you know, he can do the, I think he could do the pressing element of Nunez. He's not technically as capable as Nunez, but there, you know, there are ways in which I feel Hoff is a skilled enough.
00:42:02
Speaker
Coach to get a tune out of a slightly amended squad if he had to for a short period of time So if if we keep relatively Luckily in terms of the the bigger injuries being the likes of O'Neill who are who had was looking really really useful but was still only kind of an impact player rather than someone you would start if that is what if that's kind of the level of of of Injury, we're gonna get I think we're gonna win the league. I just think there's this I Feel something stirring like those two or three championship style teams we've had before where you turn up expecting to win not just because you're an idiot and you always think you're going to win 4-0 like me but actually you just think I can I can i
00:42:47
Speaker
He's brilliant, he's brilliant, he's brilliant. The way we do this is brilliant. We always create a lot of chances. We look far better in set pieces. The discipline has been really good compared to under Wagner as well so far. um We're doing some really calculated yellow cards you know to kill games, which I like to see. and ah You mentioned Slimani. He looks like a phenomenal acquisition. I don't think he's ever going to win championship.
00:43:16
Speaker
I don't think he'll ever be in the championship team of the year. I don't think he's ever going to win play of the season necessarily. But in terms of, ah he gives you steel, he gives you physicality, and he can really play. and and And clearly got a bit of a brain about him in terms of how quickly he'd be able to come in and play the halfway. Yeah, there's there's so much to like about this squad. And I just, you know,
00:43:40
Speaker
I mean, like you say, he can all go to shit and they he might have his, you know, his four nil at Millwall moment. Who knows? But I can't help but think that that we're going to have enough to to to mount a challenge. And that net that run of that run of fixtures has me thinking and we're going to be top three or four by maybe top two by Christmas. There's not many times where people start singing E.I.E.I.O. and then it doesn't it doesn't end pretty well.
00:44:09
Speaker
I really thought I would sound like a delusionally positive when i when I came on here, but compared to you guys, I mean, you're both head over heels in love with your Hannes. We're winning the league. I mean, this is this is great, clearly. He's such a boy, and he's got these he's got that kind of... he's It's not quite farcrest, but he has got the sartorial elegance, I think, as well. yeah Maybe with the kind of centrist dad trainers that I'm not particularly in love with, but, you know... I haven't noticed his trainers. I mean, I do like his i like his crew neck white t-shirt and dark jumper over the top. It's a bit miracle, isn't it? But, you know, that works for some people. I think it works for him.
00:44:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's sort of a bit like um he looks a bit like a successful dentist. or like so So is he something like so like a clinician in his downtime? Also, well, let's see what he's in a big coat game is like. come we Well, we are were get we're getting close to big coat time. like you he He doesn't strike me as Parker. I think it's going to be I think it's going to be ah navy blue, smart, smart. No, it's not me. pi You think shiy think shiny puffer?
00:45:15
Speaker
Not a shiny puffer, but I think he might be like... Shiny puffer like an Italian foreign exchange student. That's an affection, isn't it? OK, we'll see. Anyway, we've rambled on enough, I think, for now. Sorry we've been quiet for a while, life got in the way. But I hope everyone else is enjoying this fantastic rollercoaster that seems to mostly be going in an upwards inflection so far this season. We'll try and get back round the microphones not too long after international duties cease. Mind how you go.